Diary of an Austere Headmistress
by Ravenclaw-Earl of Rohan
Summary: Look into the diary of Miss Mackay, the practical, stern woman with a love for tradition and a dislike for one woman... Jean Brodie! This follows the events of the movie starring Dame Maggie Smith.
1. A New Year

Take a look into the tightly wound, straight-laced mind of Miss Emmeline Mackay, Headmistress of Marcia Blaine during the events of the film.

Dear Diary,

Another school year began today. I enter my office and am greeted by a silent smile from my loyal secretary, Miss Gaunt. She has been very helpful to me, but her silent manner can be unnerving. I place some fresh chrysanthemums on the sideboard by my office door and hang the new curtains. From my window, I see the members of my staff entering: our sensible physical education teacher, Miss Campbell, our pleasant and wholesome chemistry teacher, Miss Lockhart, and dear Miss McKenzie, the librarian.

I do enjoy staying at Marcia Blaine. The students behave (with a few notable exceptions), and everything is (almost) as it should be. Then, she comes in. Miss Brodie enters with her usual flock of admirers, wearing a ridiculous purple frock and a silly hat she probably purchased in some foreign country over the summer. How I dislike Jean Brodie! If that woman did not have tenure, she would be dismissed and forgotten, and my school would be perfect.

Miss Gaunt ushers two new girls into my office: one named Emily and one named Mary. I look at the note on my desk and see that they are bound for Jean Brodie's class. My heart sinks a little: here are two perfectly normal, lovely girls, who are no doubt full of potential (though Mary seems extremely nervous, if not flat out terrified) that Brodie will no doubt twist to her own horrible teaching methods. I frown slightly, but not so much as to intimidate the girls: intimidation is not what a good administrator promotes.

I send the new girls with a more experienced student to be shown around the school, and I note the portrait of the founder of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. Engraved in a small golden plaque are the words, "Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." How I love the Book of Proverbs.

My day continues, without much to worry about until lunchtime. Mr. Lowther, our singing master approached me, asking if he could leave the cafeteria for a moment. I have had a nasty feeling that Jean Brodie was trying to captivate Mr. Lloyd, the art master, last year, and I fear she may have moved on to Lowther. The other staff, such as Miss Campbell, have already complained about the precocity of her special set of girls, and I sincerely hope that she will not extend her corrupting influence to Mr. Lowther.

I have a feeling we are in for a good year at Marcia Blaine… I just hope Jean Brodie doesn't spoil it.

Sincerely,

Emmeline Mackay


	2. An Occurrence In the Locker Rooms

Sorry for the late update! I prefer to write when I'm inspired rather than cranking out a mediocre story in six months.

Dear Diary,

The school year has progressed smoothly- or so I thought.

My teachers continue to work efficiently. Miss Campbell is preparing a brilliant hockey team for the year. The Kerr sisters will soon have the younger girls on the machines, ready to perform practical stitchery. And there always seems to be beautiful music coming from Mr. Lowther's classroom.

Which doesn't sound as beautiful to me after this evening. I walked into the locker room to see if Miss Campbell was still about. Miss Campbell was not to be found, but I met the Brodie set instead: Sandy Stranger, Jenny Grey, Monica McClaren, and now Mary McGregor.

Oh, Mary McGregor. I feared for her when she marched off to Jean Brodie's classroom on that first day of term. Now, she's enamored of the corrupter of the generation. Mary and the other two were giggling wildly at Sandy Stranger, who was performing a rather vulgar trick in which one turns their back and moves their arms up and down their sides so as to mimic romantic relations.

When I confronted Sandy and the girls, they attempted to lie their way out of it, claiming to have seen _La Traviata_ with Brodie… And Gordon Lowther!

Lowther, the kindly man who always held the door for me and always respected my authority, was taking Jean Brodie to a most unsuitable opera with FOUR STUDENTS. I could feel my ire building, but wouldn't show it in front of the girls.

The girls then revealed that they and Miss Brodie have been visiting Lowther at Cramond, which is highly inappropriate. No doubt Jean Brodie taught Sandy Stranger that filthy movement.

I attempt to interrogate the girls as to what they are up to, but they lie through all of my questions. Even Mary McGregor lied to me, the headmistress of Marcia Blaine (albeit with the encouragement of her fellows).

Mary shows a chink in Brodie's armour though. If I am ever to fire Jean Brodie, her own students will be her downfall. I think I'll talk with Miss Brodie about my little discrepancy with her students.

Sincerely,

Emmaline Mackay


End file.
